Lawli: I'm back from Italy! =) I had a lot of fun, wish I was still there, but sadly I had to return to the real world. Oh well. An upside is that I did manage to write two chapters for this fanfic on the plane ride home! I also came up with two new ideas for multi-chaptered Code Geass (SuzaLulu) stories! Yay~

Sorry if things in this story seem like they're moving really quickly. But... romantic comedies generally call for a fast pace. I just hope I'm writing it believably enough. Sometimes I doubt myself. lol

Anyways, on to chapter eight!

WARNING: Shounen-ai (light malexmale) at the end of this chapter.

THANKS TO…LucifernSatan, animehamster, loki lee, Vermillion Lies, icarus923, eMi to mAo 374, Trishmeister, machined, Bligy, mochiusagi, DarkBombayAngel, L Lexuran, bb-s, ^Mel-Bimbo^, YaoiOkami, Suffocated Entity, Murasaki Anima, RangerInBlack, A, Serena the Hikari of Love, nequam-tenshi, calmxbeforexthexstorm... FOR REVIEWING!

The Charlatans of Circumstance
-Chapter Eight-

Suzaku had expected a large number of people to be invited to the little get-together hosted by Marianne. From what he'd gathered over tea, the woman didn't like him – for what reason, Suzaku couldn't say, though he was fairly certain it had to do with the fact that he was of the Numbers – and so was probably going to try intimidating him into leaving. Even with this presumption, he was unprepared for the throng of people that bombarded him and Lelouch at the base of the stairs.

Friends, distant family members – anyone Marianne Lamperouge had ever met, Suzaku wagered – gathered in the home (which, amazingly, was big enough to fit them all without seeming overcrowded), all dressed as if attending a grand ball.

Suzaku glanced down at his loose turquoise dress and felt suddenly and irrationally self-conscious. Lelouch even wore a suit, complete with a black bow-tie, his hands covered by impeccable white gloves.

"You could have told me to dress nicer," Suzaku said as they made their way through the mass of guests – having to stop every few seconds for someone to pass on their congratulations.

Lelouch looked him up and down. "What's wrong with what you're wearing?" he asked, frowning.

"It's too informal."

Lelouch shrugged, attempting to appear as if he didn't care and didn't think Suzaku should either, but from his expression Suzaku could tell he agreed. Still he tried to reassure him. "You're fine. Don't worry so much."

But it did worry Suzaku. For some inane reason, he was afraid of being judged by the clothes he had on. The other women were probably laughing at him for not dressing appropriately. Shouldn't he know better, after all? Or maybe they were placing the blame on Lelouch – it was his duty to inform his fiancée of the protocol of attire for these dinner parties, after all, and he obviously hadn't.

"I didn't think it would be such a fancy thing..."

"There they are!"

It was Marianne's voice, undoubtedly, that interrupted him. Turning around, Suzaku caught sight of the woman standing several feet away with two others roughly her own age. They approached slowly, Suzaku able to feel each of their eyes boring into him.

"Lelouch, you remember Mrs. Ashford."

Lelouch smiled and took Mrs. Ashford's hand, kissing it like a true gentleman. "Of course." Facing Suzaku, he began the obligatory introductions. "Suzako, meet Mrs. Geneviève Ashford." Suzaku performed an impressive (in his opinion) curtsy for the trio. "And this is Mrs. Sarah Fenette. Mrs. Ashford, Mrs. Fenette, this is my fiancée, Nagase Suzako."

"What a lovely couple you make," Geneviève commented with a bright – sincere, compared to everyone else's – smile.

Sarah made a humming noise in the back of her throat. "Yes... quite lovely. Unique. My congratulations."

"Lelouch," Marianne said, placing a hand against her son's cheek. Suzaku frowned. "Have you seen Shirley yet?" Not even giving Lelouch the time to respond, she continued. "She's absolutely stunning tonight, darling, you can't miss her."

This piqued Suzaku's interest. As any fiancée would when hearing another woman's name brought up, he inquired, "Shirley?"

Lelouch appeared disinterested. "An old friend."

"They were sweethearts," Sarah Fenette interjected. "That is, before he left for Spain. We had all hoped they would wed upon his return but... I suppose it was not meant to be."

The statement was designed to frighten him, without a doubt – make him jealous, suspicious of Lelouch's feelings for him and for Shirley. Since Lelouch had never even mentioned the woman, however, Suzaku saw no cause for alarm. Though he supposed that any ordinary woman might feel mistrustful, Suzaku did not want Suzako to be taken as that sort of woman. She was a product of his imagination as well as Lelouch's; therefore Suzaku had every right to mold her personality to his liking – so long as that personality didn't clash too much with that of his pretend fiancé's.

So with a pleasant smile, Suzaku met Sarah's smug gaze. "I would be lying if I said that is unfortunate," he said, watching her eyes widen and jaw slacken the tiniest bit – enough for him to know she found his words brazen. "For if things had worked out between them I would not find myself with the pleasure of having Lelouch's affection."

Suzaku could feel Lelouch's eyes on him now as well, but didn't face him just yet. Although he was curious to know Lelouch's reaction to his response, it could wait until they'd gotten farther away from the crowd.

None of the women said anything, albeit the only one who looked as though she wished to admonish him was Sarah Fenette. Marianne was as unreadable as her son, and Geneviève seemed amused by Suzako's display of character.

Curling his fingers around Lelouch's upper arm firmly, Suzaku bowed his head at the three politely. "It was an honor meeting you."

Lelouch followed his lead and bid the women farewell before walking away with Suzaku.

Only when they were out of sight did Suzaku lift his gaze to meet Lelouch's. The other's expression was neutral and his eyes fixed straight ahead, but the slight upward curve of his lips let Suzaku know he wasn't angry.

"That was good," he finally whispered, and Suzaku allowed himself a triumphant smile. "I don't believe I've ever seen Mrs. Fenette so appalled."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good, it was meant to be."

They stopped before a table of sweets, which Suzaku stared at longingly. "Are most Britannian women that way?" he wondered, reaching for a creampuff and popping it into his mouth happily.

Lelouch watched him chew, his face as usual giving nothing away. Suzaku swallowed and then hesitantly licked a smudge of cream from the corner of his mouth. It was then that Lelouch finally directed his attention elsewhere. "Most of them," he answered honestly. "Perhaps now you can understand my reluctance to even pretend marrying one of them."

Suzaku picked up an éclair next. "Yes, but... I thought it was more of a surprise factor than that."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Suzaku didn't say anything and, affronted, Lelouch snatched the éclair out of his grasp. "What do you mean?" he asked again.

Crossing his arms over his chest in an almost defense stance, Suzaku answered him slowly. "I'm not stupid, Lelouch. Your mother is very prejudice against Elevens. But that doesn't surprise me; most Britannians are."

"Now who's prejudice?" Lelouch interrupted with a roll of the eyes.

Suzaku shrugged his shoulders, unable to deny the claim; he was what the world taught him to be. "What surprised me was that you would use my nationality for your own gain. As an Eleven, you know I don't have many options when it comes to making money. And as an Eleven, you knew your mother would automatically hate me."

"What does it matter to you?" Lelouch scoffed, making Suzaku realize how worked up he was getting over this – his heart rate having even increased. Really, why should it bother him that Lelouch had done this intentionally? It shouldn't; it shouldn't at all, and yet...

Suzaku looked resolvedly at his shoes. "It doesn't. Never mind."

Suzaku heaved a sigh as he walked through the garden, grateful for the opportunity to finally be alone. Up until this point, the night had been a non-stop performance on his part as he made small talk with friends and relatives of the Lamperouge family. He'd met a few of Lelouch's siblings – and it amazed him that there were even more whom he had not met – and Milly, the only daughter of Geneviève Ashford, who was a sweet (if slightly devilish) young woman and one of Lelouch's oldest friends.

For the most part it hadn't been difficult acting as the woman he and Lelouch (but mainly Lelouch) dreamed up, though it was tiresome, especially when Lelouch decided to not make it easy for him by intentionally mentioning some special skill of Suzako's – such as sewing, or cooking – that in reality Suzaku knew very little about.

Twirling a strand of the long wig between his fingers, Suzaku continued down the cobblestone path, admiring the arrangement of flowers that had been planted by one of Lelouch's sisters (Suzaku couldn't remember exactly which of them). Now that he was alone, he allowed himself to slouch and his heels to drag a bit as he walked. It felt good to actually move like Suzaku. He'd only been masquerading as Suzako for a few days, but already he found himself wondering how much longer he would have to keep the act up. Lelouch never told him the amount of time they would have to carry out the charade.

More than anything, Suzaku feared he would have to remain as Suzako permanently. After all, Lelouch was trying to convince his mother and the rest of his family that he was marrying someone. His fiancée couldn't just disappear out of the blue.

What was Lelouch planning?

Lelouch... Suzaku didn't even want to be thinking about him right now. Desiring a break from his act wasn't the only reason Suzaku sought out the gardens. Ever since their conversation at the pastry table, Suzaku hadn't been in the mood to deal with the other male. Now that he thought back on it, Lelouch hadn't even done anything wrong. It did upset Suzaku to learn that his race was one of the main reasons Lelouch wanted him to act as his pretend fiancée. But the way he reacted... Lelouch was right, it shouldn't really bother him. He was used to being discriminated against in far worse ways than this. This was nothing.

But still... He felt like he'd been tricked, deceived somehow. And it made him wonder what Lelouch really thought of him – did he view Elevens in the same light as his mother?

"Meow, meow..."

Suzaku blinked, halting mid-step as he heard the voice. It was soft, feminine, and Suzaku knew he'd heard it before.

"Meooow! Meow, meow, meow..."

Curious, Suzaku followed the voice to a small clearing in the garden where the path widened to encircle a stone fountain. Kneeling beside the fountain in an elegant green dress was a young woman with brilliant pink hair the likes of which Suzaku had never seen. Euphemia Lamperouge, he remembered; Lelouch's half-sister. Suzaku had seen her briefly earlier in the evening, and hadn't expected to run into her again.

Sitting not even two feet away from Euphemia was a disinterested looking grey cat.

Suzaku approached the pair, the short heels of his dress shoes clicking against the ground and causing Euphemia to pause in the middle of meowing at the cat again. When she caught sight of him, she smiled brightly and rose to her feet.

"Hello," she greeted happily.

"Hi." Suzaku cleared his throat, almost kicking himself for failing to use Suzako's voice. "Hi," he tried again an octave higher.

"Suzako, right?" Euphemia giggled. "I don't think we ever got the chance to properly introduce ourselves." She held out her right hand to him and, after a moment, Suzaku gently grasped it in his own. It was small, delicate – the way a woman's should be, unlike his own larger, calloused hands. "I'm Euphemia, Lelouch's sister. But please call me Euphie. Everyone does."

Smiling, Suzaku shook her hand. "Nice to officially meet you, Euphemi— Euphie," he corrected himself.

She released his hand to gesture at the cat. "And this is Arthur," she explained, and the cat yawned noiselessly before rolling onto it's side so that it faced away from them.

"He's..." Suzaku searched for good word to describe the animal. He and cats didn't particularly get along well, so thinking of a non-vulgar adjective for the cat was a bit of a challenge. "...Cute," he finally decided, because it was... from a safe distance.

Euphemia walked back over to the fountain, taking a seat on the ledge of it. Arthur stretched out at her feet. "My brother tells me you're fond of cats," she said.

Of course, Suzaku thought wryly.

Suzaku approached cautiously. "Yes," he replied, grateful at least that she'd revealed this to him before he slipped up and said just how much he disliked them. Arthur raised his head and began hissing at him and Suzaku heeded the warning. "But I can't say they share the sentiment."

Laughing quietly, Euphemia shook her head. "I'm sure that's not true. Arthur here is just stubborn... much like his owner," she added as an afterthought, a coy smile playing on her lips. "But you've managed to tame one of them."

"Huh?" Suzaku blinked and glanced at Arthur, who was now standing as he continued to hiss.

"Arthur is Lelouch's pet," Euphemia explained after catching his confused expression. "Really, I think he's even more stubborn than Arthur, so if you can get him to like you I'm sure you can do the same with Arthur!"

Suzaku lowered himself onto his knees, extending his hand peacefully toward the cat. "Maybe," he agreed reluctantly, green eyes watching as Arthur padded closer to him, movements graceful like his owner's. Arthur sniffed Suzaku's hand, tilting his head to the side contemplatively, and Suzaku allowed a tiny smile to cross his face. As he was about to pat Arthur on the head, the cat suddenly opened his jaws and clamped down on the skin between Suzaku's thumb and index finger. Yelping, Suzaku immediately wrenched his hand away, bringing it up to survey the damage. Four little teeth marks were imprinted in the flesh.

Suzaku shot Arthur a nasty glare.

From her perch on the fountain ledge, Euphemia laughed.

Dinner was served promptly at seven-thirty. A long table in the center of the main dining room seated family members and close friends. More distant relatives and acquaintances were divided among smaller tables in the attached second dining room. Lelouch sat to the right of his mother, who as per usual ruled at the head of the table, and beside him Suzaku, who had been unusually quiet ever since their discussion at the pastry table.

Lelouch knew he'd upset Suzaku – how, he wasn't quite sure, for he'd believed Suzaku to have tougher skin when it came to his race – but he hadn't apologized for doing so. And it wasn't even out of spite so much as genuinely not knowing what to say. For Lelouch, who'd always prided himself in being good with words, being unable to summon those necessary to apologize to Suzaku was frustrating, to say the least.

"Little brother."

Lelouch bristled visibly at the title, as he always did. This earned a deep chuckle in response. Schneizel, one of his step-brothers, stared at him from across the table, concern etched in his blue-violet eyes. Schneizel was a large man, having inherited his father's solid frame, so when he said 'little brother' he did not only allude to the gap between their ages.

"Why so upset?" Schneizel was saying. "Here you are with your beautiful fiancée... one would think you'd smile for once."

Beside him, Suzaku moved his head, staring in a way only he could think of as discreet. Lelouch fought down his amusement by remembering Schneizel expected an answer from him.

"It's none of your business," he replied sharply.

Schneizel's lips formed a thin line. He said nothing more to Lelouch, instead setting his sights on the brunette next to him. "I sincerely hope my brother isn't always so irritable in your presence, Miss Suzako. If he is, I apologize on his behalf."

Lelouch was about to tell his sibling off when a soft clinking sound caught his attention. It started off quiet, but grew louder with each passing second. With a quick glance around the table he could see guests tapping their silverware against either their glasses or their plates. The source of the disturbance was one Milly Ashford, who had risen from her seat beside her mother and was grinning mischievously.

"I would like to make a toast to Lelouch and Suzako. I wish them every happiness; Lelouch as my oldest friend, and Suzako as the poor woman stuck with him."

There were several chuckles, from Suzaku included. Lelouch merely bit back an aggravated groan.

"And now as a tradition," Milly paused to once more tap her knife against her plate. "I must insist that the lovely couple share a kiss in front of us all!"

Lelouch's apathetic expression faltered, face blanching as he stared, aghast, up at Milly. Milly only winked. The sound of tinkering silverware grew louder. Out of the corner of his eye Lelouch could see Suzaku attempting to sink right through his chair.

Well... he couldn't say this came as a huge shock. He knew someone would want to see real intimacy between them, and being such a romantic – and such a troublemaker – Milly Ashford was the prime candidate for being the instigator of said intimacy.

Lelouch took his time rising to his feet, and once he stood completely he offered his hand to Suzaku, who hesitated before taking it and standing as well. They faced each other, Suzaku looking just as nervous and embarrassed as Lelouch felt. This, at least, comforted him; he wasn't alone in his anxiety.

Gingerly he placed his free hand against the side of Suzaku's face, a typical starting position for it to be during a kiss, or so he'd witnessed from observing many other couples. Before sitting down to dinner, Lelouch had removed his gloves, and so could feel the warmth of the other's skin when he touched him. Suzaku's skin was softer than it appeared. He'd expected his cheek to be rough, like the pads of his fingers were, but it was smooth to the touch and not at all unpleasant.

Drawing Suzaku's face closer, Lelouch watched him swallow hard and wondered what thoughts were going through his mind before sliding his lips over Suzaku's own.

For some inexplicable reason, a shiver that felt absolutely nothing like disgust (like it should) crept down his spine. A blush spread across his cheeks at the realization that he actually enjoyed the feeling of kissing Suzaku, and he had to force himself to tear his mouth away.

Sneaking a glance at Suzaku, he saw the brunette equally as flustered, and it relieved him to a certain extent. Those seated at the table began to cheer (with the exception of Marianne and Sarah, who only clapped politely), and as Lelouch lowered himself back into his chair only two thoughts remained in his mind:

This was completely wrong, and:

He wanted to do it again.

Lawli: Muahaha. I love Milly.

More shounen-ai next chapter. Just so ya'll know.